


Salted Caramel Iced Coffee

by PinkLotus (EspurrsVena)



Category: JO1 (Japan Band), ORBIT (Japan Band), Produce 101 (Japan TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings, Skyberry is also there, Teacher Sho, meeting your ex, no beta we die like real men, throw in more pdjp kids as actual kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EspurrsVena/pseuds/PinkLotus
Summary: After years, Sho meets his ex Tomo again - when he picks up the new child from Sho's class. Sho's heart breaks anew, yet not everything is as it seems.Sequel toStrawberry Mango Milkbut you don't have to read it before to understand the story
Relationships: Ando Tomoaki/Yonashiro Sho
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Salted Caramel Iced Coffee

Actually, Sho should have realised it already when he saw the new child joining his class. The kid’s resemblance to him was there.  
Yet at first, he blamed it on himself. Ando might be a common family name, but he couldn't help but think of his ex each time he heard that name. Or that he was still seeing his ex everywhere even after years had passed. It was probably the regret still lingering in this heart that made him think about the other one from time to time. Said regret didn’t let his heart move on. 

It wasn’t like Sho wanted it. He didn’t want to wallow himself in self-pity, but there he was – unable to move on after years. He was trapped into a cage of regrets and fragments of a broken heart. 

However, as much as he had wished to see the other one again, when it actually happened, it was a shock. Suddenly, without a warning Tomo was standing at the entrance of the kindergarten, ready to pick up Minato, the child who had joined Sho’s class for the first time this morning. He was supposed to greet Tomo, yet he could just stare at him in disbelief. 

His former boyfriend looked the same as years ago, but different. He hadn’t aged much, his face was still as handsome as back then, but his hair colour was orange now. It was shocking because the Tomo Sho had known would have never dyed his hair in such a vivid colour. The one time when he had made Tomo try brown hair dye had required a lot of courage and Sho's persuasive power already. He had changed over the years for sure. 

Yet inside of Sho a thousand thoughts were circling and he was paralyzed by those.  
Was it the suddenness of the reunion?  
Or the impact of seeing a toddler happily running into his arms?  
Or Both? 

Sure, little Minato was old enough to be Tomo’s son. If Sho’s calculations were correct, it must have happened shortly after their break up. Yet thinking about that made his mind wander even farther – in directions he shouldn’t think or care about.  
Did Tomo distract himself and the child was some kind of accident?  
Even if it happened like that, it was clear that Tomo loved the child and the child loved him. 

In a way Sho was glad that at least Tomo seemed to have found his happiness. Sho himself was in pain, but it was okay. Maybe that was the final punch into his heart, to break it into so many pieces, that he could finally move on. That’s what he wanted all the time, wasn’t it?  
Still, he was at work and for now he had to be professional. Yet no words left his mouth. 

Thus, it was Tomo who spoke first when he noticed who was standing in front of him. “Sho, is that you?” The smile that Tomo showed in that moment was a happy one and Sho felt his heart skipping a beat. It wasn’t supposed to act like that. He wasn't suppossed to feel butterflies gathering in his stomach again. He was supposed to have moved on since long.

Hence, it took an embarrassing moment for him to finally answer. “Eh, Tomo?” He sounded like an idiot, but he couldn’t help. His mind was a mess.  
“Wow, It’s been so long. I can’t believe we are meeting at this place again.” Tomo was obviously excited to see Sho again. It made the older one glad at least that Tomo had no lingering bad feelings regarding him.  
“Me too.” There were things Sho wanted to say at this moment, yet his tongue was tied. Also, it was not the time and place for it. He was still at work. “How have you been?” 

“Good and you? When I read Yonashiro on the teachers list, I never expected it to be truly you. It’s such an amazing surprise.” It was obvious that his life had been good. He was a father with a lovely kid now unlike Sho who never managed to make a relationship last again because his cursed heart wasn’t able to move on.  
“Me too.” It was a lie and he hoped that enough time had passed so that Tomo wasn’t able to read him like an open book anymore. “Minato did well on his first day. He was a little shy, but I think in a few days he will be fully incorporated into the class.” Switching the topic felt like the best move in that moment. 

“Yes, he is a little shy at first, but he will melt in no time, right?” The soft smile Tomo showed when he addressed the child made Sho’s heart skip another beat. If he hadn’t been still in love with his ex, he would have fallen in love again at that moment. His heart kept on betraying his brain. “Say goodbye to Yonashiro-sensei, Minato.”  
“Bye Bye Yonyashiro-sensei.” Sho didn’t even register the child mispronouncing his name. His mind was still focused too much on his former lover who laughed heartly about it. How much he had missed hearing this laugh in the last years. It was still like music in his ears. 

Only when his colleague, Takumi, bumped into him, he was pulled back into reality.  
“You look like you have seen a ghost.” Takumi was teaching the other class and had started after him at the facility. Besides being just an intern looking for some plan B in his life, he had proved himself to be natural with the kids on the spot. Sho preferred working with people like him instead of people who thought that they knew kids after reading some books. Humans were never like the books, you needed intuition and empathy to understand them. 

“You could say so.” The situation felt unreal in a way. His heart had wished to see Tomo once more, yet it had been so unlike his dreams.  
“Was it because of that guy earlier who picked up the new kid?”  
“Yes, he is my ex.” While he was on friendly terms with his colleague, he and Takumi weren’t that close, so naturally the younger one didn’t understand the whole gravity of the situation. 

“Ouch. It surely hurts to see your ex with a child now.”  
“It does, but I’m glad that he is happy now.” That was what mattered, wasn’t it? When you love someone their happiness should matter to you and not your own selfish feelings, especially when you were the cause for all. “Anyway, you seem in a hurry.”  
“Ah yes. I’m going to meet Sukai.” 

Not too long-ago Takumi had started to date the uncle of one of the children from his class. Technically, it wasn’t welcomed by the management – teachers were supposed to be neutral parties – but since he was only the uncle, it was excused. “Have all your kids been picked up?”  
“Only Rian is left, but since she is the twin sister of your Issei anyway, I thought it’s okay if you do the send-off for both.” Another thing that wasn’t supposed to happen – the bashful look on the younger one’s face proved that he knew it – but that could be excused once in a while. Also, he had a point. Besides that the twins were in different classes, there was no need for two teachers to send them off.  
“Sure. Enjoy your date.” 

In a way life was a cruel thing. He said goodbye to his colleague who went on a date while he was back being heartbroken because of his ex. Maybe it was belated karma that punished him now because he had been egoistic years ago. Maybe he deserved the pain he was going through again. Maybe it was the last time finally. 

The next day, he feared the arrival of the Ando family. He still hadn’t digested the day before and actually he didn’t want to meet the mother of little Minato. It felt better not to know the face of the woman who made Tomo happy. It only made the situation feel more real and for some reason he wanted to cling to the idea that everything was nothing but a nightmare. 

Yet as he feared he met Minato’s mother in the morning. The day before the management had greeted the woman and showed her the facility, Sho meanwhile had to take care of his class, so he had only met her child.  
She was a beauty and Sho couldn’t help but to feel like he knew her from somewhere. Yet he had no idea from where he exactly knew her. 

“Oh my god, it’s really you, Sho.” She also seemed to recognise him, yet Sho was still clueless. “I thought Tomo was joking when he mentioned you last night.” Did they know each other maybe from high school? Or was it college? Then she knew about his and Tomo’s past – they hadn’t been subtle about the true nature of their relationship – yet she also seemed happy to see him again.  
“Ah yes, it’s really me.” Still, no name came into his mind. He tried his best to smile and that the woman won’t notice the agony he was feeling in that moment. 

“It’s been so long. But knowing it’s truly you makes me feel better about leaving Minato here. I know he is in good hands with you.” The way she talked like, it had to be someone he knew for a long time, probably she was someone from his former high school? Did Tomo go back home for a time after their break up and then it happened?  
“I’m glad that you still think of me in such a high regard. I will of course do my best to teach Minato everything he needs to know.” 

Little Minato meanwhile was still clinging to his mother’s leg. He still seemed to be a little shy, but it was to be expected. It was only his second day at the facility. Yet it was time to say goodbye to his mother now and luckily the boy seemed to like him in a way already, because the parting was less dramatic than he feared. 

“What are we going to do today, Yonyashiro-sensei?” Again, the boy made a mistake with his name.  
“It’s Yonashiro-sensei, Minato. There is only a y at the beginning of my name.”, he explained.  
“But you are like a biiiiiig cat.” Sho hadn’t heard that in a while. Tomo had also compared him to a cat back in the days. It just proved that the kid was of his blood. It hurt, but it wasn’t the moment to be hurt. He was at work and he had to make the start of the new kid as smooth as possible. There was no room for him to be hurt right now. 

“Thank you, but you first have to ask people whether you can call them with a nickname. There are adults who don’t like nicknames.”  
“But I like cats and I like you.” Minato’s childish innocence was adorable and painful at the same time. Especially because those words were still tattooed in his heart. A life time ago, Tomo had confessed to him like that. 

They had been on the way back from school. It was raining and they had found a kitten all alone. Tomo decided to take the kitten home – his family had quite the number of pets already – and on their way they discussed how they should name the kitten. Suddenly, Tomo suggested Yona as the cat’s name and when asked why, he had blushed and said “Because I like cats and I like you.”  
It had been the start of their relationship – and the cat was eventually named Junki. 

“That’s sweet of you, but you should give nicknames to your friends and not your teachers.” For a moment the boy looked confused at him, but then another child from his class, Raira, noticed that Minato had arrived and asked him to play. Already the day before, Raira seemed to have taken a liking into the newcomer and it made Sho glad that there seemed to be a smooth transition. 

In the afternoon it was Tomo again who picked up Minato. This time Sho tried to stay composed, but his heart sped up again once he saw his ex. Why was Tomo still that handsome? Even the orange hair colour didn’t hurt his charms.  
“Sho, do you have time on the weekend? I thought we could meet. We haven’t seen each other for years.” 

Sho's mind screamed at him to decline that offer. There were enough reasons why he should decline like the rules of the facility that you shouldn’t meet with the parents in private. But his heart, his damned heart that couldn’t let go of Tomo even after all those years, made his head nod in approval.  
“Great! Wait, let me write down my number.” 

While Tomo was searching in his bag for something to write his number down, Minato came over to him and gave him a drawing that showed something that looked like two cats. “Is that for me?”  
“Yes. It’s me and you as cats. Mama always says I’m her little Minyato and Rairai started to call me like that today, too. And the big cat is you because you are also a cat.” It was a sweet gesture and Sho was glad that the child had taken a liking in him in only two days. He just hoped that the child wouldn’t grow too attached to him besides the familiarity that existed between the teacher and his family.  
“Thank you.” 

However, when Tomo saw it, he grinned wildly. “He’s a smart kid, isn’t he? He realised that you are a cat on the spot.” It was weird to hear that Tomo was still a supporter of that comparison. It was meant in an affectionate way back in the days, but those days have ended long ago.  
“Not you too. I’m still his teacher.”  
“I know and you seem like a very good one or otherwise Minato wouldn’t have opened up so fast to you.” By now Tomo had found a pen, yet there was no paper yet, thus Sho handed him the backside of the drawing. “Thank you. How about we meet at the café close to hear? His mom will pick him up the next days, so we won’t see each other before.” 

“Sure.” It would be hopefully enough time to prepare himself for the meeting – the word date echoed in his mind at that moment yet he tried to bury the thought as fast as possible. He had to let go of Tomo finally.  
“Great! See you on Saturday!” Unlike him, Tomo seemed to have overcome the break up long ago, thus only positiveness was left inside of him. Sho was glad about that, yet there was some envy. He wished he could be free from the past, too. 

Actually, Saturday was a perfect day. The sun was shining, no clouds were found and it was warm. Yet Sho barely had slept the night before. Memories, regrets and anxiety had kept him awake and he even considered to cancel the meeting for a moment. Yet he knew that he would regret that action eventually and he had accumulated enough regrets regarding Tomo already. 

With enough cups of coffee in his veins, he made his way to the café and for a moment he was able to enjoy the weather. It made him hopeful in a way. Maybe the day to let go off Tomo had finally come. Maybe today he would finally get the closure he never got because of his own stupidness. 

When he arrived at the café Tomo was already waiting for him and to Sho’s surprise the smaller one hugged him. In a way he felt like he didn’t deserve it, yet he cherished that short moment when their bodies were close to each other. It reminded him of better times. 

Inside, they decided to order first. “Hm... A salted caramel iced coffee and a chocolate brownie for me.”  
“The same for me.” Even after all those years, their likes were still similar. They both hadn’t changed much. “So, you are still half pretending that you don’t have a sweet tooth, Sho?”  
“More like I’m trying to fight it but I’m not really successful.” 

They found a nice empty spot near the windows where they sat down eventually, yet Sho had no idea where to start the talk. Should he apologise to Tomo for what he had done? Or just ask him how he had been and let the agony wash over him? 

“I got a photo from my parents this morning. Junki is still healthy and loves to meow all day.” The picture showed the kitten – that was a grown up cat nowadays – with an open mouth as if it was photographed in the middle of meowing. Sho hadn’t expected the other one to start their conversation like that, but he was happy to see that their little baby was still healthy.  
“So, he still lives with your parents? I thought you would have taken him with you.” Only after saying that Sho realised that maybe some painful memories could be attached to the cat for Tomo, so it was probably better that the cat had stayed with his parents. 

“They didn’t let me.” Yet Tomo was only laughing. “Junki also adores Minato. If he’s at my parents, Junki is around him all the time and even wants to sleep in his bed.” More pictures of the cat and a slightly younger Minato were shown and it made Sho’s heart grow heavy in a way.  
Sure, if he hadn’t been so stupid years ago, Minato would have never been born, but seeing Tomo living such a happy family life hurt in a way. Yet he did his best to hide this pain. “That’s adorable.” 

“So... How have you been the last few years?” Tomo was the braver one of them, but that was to be expected. He had moved on already.  
“Well, after that happened.” Sho couldn’t and didn’t want to vocalise his biggest regret. “I stayed in South Korea a few months longer and returned to write my thesis. Pretty much right afterwards, I got my current job and not much has happened since.”  
He wasn’t even hiding anything. Unable to move on and being full of regrets made him run away from all new possible relationships. More than once he had thought he should have taken the risk and tried to date, yet he always felt sorry for the other party. He wanted them to find someone who truly liked them and not some idiot who was still attached to his ex.  
At the same time, he had been too much of a coward to try to fix the mess he had created. If there had been a chance to get Tomo back, he had let it pass.  
“Is that so?” 

There was a pregnant silence in between them. Sho knew he had to say something but instead he tortured his brownie piece with his fork. “And you?”  
It wasn’t the words Tomo seemed to expect, but he answered anyway. “For a time, I moved back to my parents. It didn’t feel right to live in the apartment that belonged to us anymore. Then Minato was born and my sister’s husband decided to join our family company, thus I returned to Tokyo and followed my dream to work as a song-writer. Only recently, they came here, too, to set up a new office.”  
“That’s great. I’m glad you found your happiness.” 

That’s what Tomo deserved. He deserved to live a happy life and make his dream come true, especially after Sho had hurt him with his selfishness. Already back in the days, Sho had thought he deserved the world, thus he was glad it had come true.  
“Thanks to my sister. She insisted on taking over the company since she is the older one and so I can go my own way, but since the family name should stay she made her husband take our family name when they married. She is an amazing older sister and mother.”  
“Oh, you are also an uncle already?” 

For what felt like an eternity, Tomo looked at him with a dumbfounded stare before he broke out in laughing. Sho had no idea why the other one was laughing until Tomo finally got hold of himself again. “Oh my god Sho. Don’t tell me you believed that Minato is my son. You know my sister since we know us and you couldn’t recognise her when she brought or picked up Minato?”  
So that’s why the woman felt so familiar to Sho. Because she was Tomo’s older sister. He hadn’t seen her in years, so him not remembering her face was valid, wasn’t it? Still, the embarrassment because of this misunderstanding made him want to hide somewhere. “Maybe? It’s been a while.” 

“Far too long.” Tomo turned serious in that moment and Sho felt it was time to address the elephant in the room. To finally apologise after all the years.  
“It’s been my fault. I was an egoist back then, too caught up in the fun of studying abroad which made me turn into a shitty boyfriend. You breaking up with me was the right reaction, but when I realised my mistake and how much I loved you, I felt it was too late. Especially after I heard that you moved out of our apartment. I know it’s too late to apologise now, but I hope you accept it anyway.” 

“It’s never too late to apologise.” The orange haired one looked at his brownie which looked equally tortured by a fork like Sho’s one. “Actually, at first I hadn’t intended to break up with you. I thought I can use it as a shock to make you wake up, but you just continued as if nothing happened, so I thought you really didn’t love me anymore.”  
“The shock arrived too late. I’m sorry.”  
“Maybe I should have visited you and talk to you directly and not just via telephone.”  
“Don’t blame yourself. I was the one who made a mistake.” 

During his exchange year, Sho had hoped that Tomo would visit him eventually, yet they both had been students with a limited budget. But the loneliness of not seeing his boyfriend had started the downward spiral of wanting to distract him as much as possible which led to him neglecting sad boyfriend ultimately. Yet he realised that too late. His relationship had been lost and the heart of the man he had loved had been broken. The agony he went through afterwards felt deserved.  
“And after you realised how you feel?” 

“I was a coward. On the one hand, I wanted to apologise and make up, but then I heard that you moved out and I felt it was too late and that I don’t deserve you anyway.”  
“I understand.”  
“Maybe I should have contacted you to clean up everything at least, but I was a coward.” Something inside of Sho wanted to confess to Tomo that he never moved on since that day and that he still felt like he loved him. But he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t appropriate and in a way he was too afraid to hurt Tomo a second time. 

“Yes, you should have.” The way Tomo bit his lip told Sho that there was still something on his mind. “When you said that not has happened since we broke up, did you mean?”  
It wasn’t necessary for Tomo to finish the question, Sho knew what he implied. “Yes, I’ve been on a few dates, but I couldn’t bring myself to go to the final step. They didn’t deserve me.”  
“Just because you made a mistake during our relationship?”  
“No because I still love you and my heart can’t let go of you until today.”  
The cat was out of the bag now and Sho didn’t dare to look at Tomo. Instead, he stared at his iced coffee which wasn’t an iced coffee anymore – the ice cubes had melted already. 

“Sho, look at me.” He wanted to follow the other one’s request, but he couldn’t do it. He was too afraid of the other one’s reaction.  
Yet Tomo didn’t let him continue to stare holes into his coffee. Gently, he placed his hand under Sho’s chin and made him lift his head. “Sho, did you really mean what you just said? That you still love me?”  
There was no escape from that situation and in a way Tomo did deserve to hear the whole truth. “I meant it. All the time, I never managed to get over you. When I thought that Minato was your son and that you found your happiness, it hurt like hell, but at the same time I was glad that you found your happiness because you deserved that.” He started to feel his eyes bags filling with tears, but he didn’t want to cry. It would be nothing but tears from self-pity.  
“You deserve to be happy, too, Sho, and not to torture yourself because of a past mistake.” 

However, before any more words of self pity could leave Sho’s lips, Tomo’s ones connected with those. It felt like a dream and he begged in his mind to wake up. This couldn’t be true, too much time had passed already.  
Still, Tomo’s lips felt real and he still smelled the same like all those years ago. The way he felt right now was too familiar. His body and soul still remembered the other one vividly.  
“Tomo, I -” 

“No, let me talk now, Sho.” Tomo laid a finger on his lips to stop him. “I was hurt by your actions, yes, but I was ready to take you back once you apologised. But then we lost all contact and you left a huge hole in my life. I tried to get over you, too, and thought it’s not healthy to be that attached to your first love, but when I saw you earlier this week, the butterflies were back like on the first day and I felt that maybe we are meant to be.” 

Already in the past Sho had often thought that he and Tomo were indeed meant to be. From the first moment they had spent together, they were a match made in heaven and no one ever had been able to fill the hole Tomo had left in his life. “I felt those butterflies, too.”  
Still, he wondered whether it was alright to do what Tomo implied. Should he give them another chance? What if he made another mistake and hurt Tomo even worse this time? He didn’t want that. He wanted Tomo to be happy. 

“Sho, let’s try it again. Let’s make it better this time.” Once more, Tomo proved to be the more courageous one of the two of them.  
“Tomo, I don’t want to hurt you again.”  
“I believe you won’t. You learnt your lesson.”  
“In a painful way, yes.” The orange haired one was right, but there was still anxiety inside of Sho. “This time, we will talk more. I always tell the kids, too, that talking is the key to solving problems.”  
“Are you comparing me with your kids, Yonyashiro?” 

This moment was meant to be serious, but Tomo using that nickname made Sho crack a smile. “Not you too. Minato keeps insisting on using that nickname for me.”  
“I know. But you are right. I shouldn’t use the same nickname as my nephew. So about Yonya?”  
“You know I won’t say no to that because you always called me like that. The Ando family loves to compare me to cats.”  
“Because we are right.” At that moment, Tomo took his hand and squeezed it. His hand felt warm, just like the rays from the sun that came through the window. “We should finally save our brownies. They look horrible.”  
“Once more you are right.” 

It was difficult to eat all the crumbs with just one hand, but the desire not to let the other one go was stronger. Sho had yearned for such a moment for so long and nothing could change the magic of it – not even one hundred crumbs of a brownie and an iced drink that had reached room temperature by now.  
He and Tomo were indeed a match made in heaven and this day a perfect one. 

But each day ended eventually and it was time to part – for now. For a moment, Sho pondered whether he should invite Tomo to his place, but he decided to take it slow for now. He didn’t want to rush things especially because so much time had passed and they needed time to settle their new roles and rules. Yet there was still one thing he needed to know. “Tomo, why do you have orange hair?”  
“I lost a bet to my colleague.” 

“And you really did it?”  
“I was kinda forced, too. Another one of my colleagues ended up with blue hair.”  
“That colour would have suited you more.”  
“Nah, I can’t wait for the 6 weeks to pass so I can dye them back to black.” 

At the station their ways parted, but not before sharing another kiss.  
For the first time in years, Sho felt nothing but butterflies when thinking about Tomo. The weight had lifted from his heart and while there was still some salty aftertaste because of his former stupidness, his life has turned as sweet as caramel again. 

**OMAKE**  
“So, you are dating the uncle of one of your kids, too?” The news of Sho dating Minato’s uncle had reached the other stuff of the kindergarten faster than he expected. He had gotten some scolding from the management, yet just like in Takumi’s case they let it pass.  
“Yes. It seems to become common here.”  
“I wonder who is next. Ren or our Korean trainee Geonhak.” The younger one wondered.  
“The management is getting a headache if that happens again.” Their manager had looked stressed enough already when Sho revealed his relationship. Yet for now everything was fine and both teachers enjoyed their favourite drinks from the nearby café while watching over their classes playing outside.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> It's March 2021 and your girl still writes Yntm because she can.  
> Gosh, I miss them together. Covid please disband so that live events can happen and a reunion becomes possible  
> (why am I putting myself into this delusion and pain?)  
> Anyway, Yona is a cat, so Yonyashiro is a valid nickname haha  
> Well, I hope you enjoyed the story and please leave your thoughts in the comments!  
> See you~


End file.
